Bicentenary of Anton Bruckner
Upper Austria is the home of Anton Bruckner. Born in Ansfelden in 1824, he developed his musical interests at St Florian Monastery, where he was trained and his talent was nurtured. In Linz, he became much celebrated for his improvisation skills as an organist and developed into a composer with a distinctive musical language. In 2024, to mark the 200th anniversary of Bruckner’s birth, the whole of Upper Austria will be the stage for a rich variety of celebrations of this exceptional artist and fresh thinking about him and his work.
Avant-garde and tradition
Upper Austria and Anton Bruckner have much in common. It’s the wonderful mixture of love for tradition, departure into the modern age and irrepressible spirit of innovation that distinguishes Upper Austria and its people. Being aware of one’s roots and growing up out of the land towards the sky. It’s the way of life here. And precisely what Anton Bruckner represents.
Anton Bruckner looks to the past while facing the future. He learns and perfects his musical craft, first as a member of the St Florian Boys’ Choir, then as an organist and organ virtuoso, and finally as a composer. Equipped with this grounding in tradition, he pushes open the doors to the future, looks beyond the horizon and leads the way to musical modernity.
Celebrate Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner’s bicentenary is a wonderful opportunity to experience and be a part of the rich diversity of Upper Austrian culture. Town squares and communities of all sizes throughout Upper Austria will host a wide range of projects connected with Bruckner, exploring his life and work, his personality and his lasting impact.
Encounters with Anton Bruckner in Upper Austria
The concert hall in Linz’s riverside Donaupark is the perfect stage for Anton Bruckner’s music. Concerts are performed here by leading international orchestras as well as the Bruckner Orchester Linz. Every year it’s the main venue for the International Brucknerfest.
The museum dedicated to the life and work of Anton Bruckner is located in the house in Ansfelden where he was born. It chronicles his development to a celebrated organist and composer.
The Anton Bruckner Private University isn’t just the place where Upper Austria’s up-and-coming musicians are trained. Performances are also given in its concert halls.
Anton Bruckner received his early musical training at St Florian Monastery, where he was a choirboy and then organist in the monastery’s basilica. The composer is buried in the crypt directly below the Bruckner Organ.
Anton Bruckner held the post of cathedral organist here between 1855 and 1868. The sound of the Old Cathedral’s Bruckner Organ has been preserved ever since. The Bruckner Stairway in the north tower has been converted into a small Bruckner museum.
With 7,386 pipes, the Bruckner Organ in the basilica at St Florian Monastery is one of the largest organs in Austria. Its monumental sound can be heard at 2.30 p.m. from mid-May to mid-October every day except Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Anton Bruckner also played the organ at the Stadtpfarrkirche in Linz. The church, which was Gothic by design, was later extensively renovated in Baroque style.
As a young man, Anton Bruckner worked as a teaching assistant in Kronstorf near Steyr. During that period, he lived in what is known today as the Bruckner Room, which is now open to visitors.
Bruckner and Upper Austria
Today, Anton Bruckner’s music can be heard in all of the world’s most famous concert halls. In Linz, it has found its ideal venue at the Brucknerhaus, located in the city’s riverside Donaupark. Having opened in 1974, the concert hall, which is famed for its excellent acoustics, is celebrating a milestone birthday in the same year as its namesake. The Bruckner Orchester Linz performs regularly at the Brucknerhaus. As Upper Austria’s symphony orchestra, it acts as the region’s musical ambassador when it travels the world on concert tours. Especially when it’s playing the music of Anton Bruckner. The Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz is a centre for teaching and research. What’s more, the sounds of the legendary Bruckner Organs, upon which the composer himself improvised, can be enjoyed in Linz’s Old Cathedral and in the basilica at the monastery in nearby St Florian.
![[Translate to Englisch:] Zwei Frauen bei einem abendlichen Spaziergang vor dem Brucknerhaus in Linz.](/fileadmin/_processed_/0/d/csm_Brucknerhaus_Linz_Linz_Tourismus_Robert_Josipovic_1b94a8575c.jpg "[Translate to Englisch:] Foto Linz Tourismus/Robert Josipovic: Das Brucknerhaus im Donaupark in Linz")
